There is tension in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, over the arrest of two members of the Drivers Welfare Club of Nigeria (DWCN) by the police.
The Guardian learnt that members of Nigeria Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) had invited the police to arrest drivers, who insisted that they would not buy tickets from the union except the one provided by the Rivers State Government.
Consequently, drivers plying Oyigbo to Rumuokoro had stopped operation in protest over the arrest of their colleagues and alleged assault on them by members of the NURTW, for refusal to buy their tickets.
Chairman of DWCN in Oyigbo, Christopher Ezeani, who spoke to newsmen, accused the NURTW members of barring them from using the roads for not patronising multiple taxation.
He said: “The NURTW members have arrested two of our members. Our members have insisted that they will not work today, until NURTW members stop the illegal levy.
“Right now, we have sent a signal to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) to get the NURTW members arrested, and they are all moving to SCID.”
